As we indicated in our section "E-Book Formats" not all e-books are the same 'nor compatable with the various e-book readers available in the market. We're confidant this will change in the future when core standards are met and adopted by the industry. Here we provide you with a few of the readers currently being sold.

Please note, prices indicated here were those known as of August 1999 at time of writing the first draft this topic. Changes may have occurred since then.

The Rocket eBook reader is about the size of a paperback, but heavier. It weights 22 ounces, and holds about 4,000 pages of words and images - around 10 novels. It is designed with the left side curved to nestle comfortably into the curve of your palm. Backlit, it's easy to read the Rocket eBook in bed without a light on. Books are downloaded from the Web, and automatically placed in the user's Rocket Library on the PC by the Rocket Librarian software. You download books (RocketEditions) into the Rocket eBook by setting the reader into a cradle connected to a PC or MAC computer. The Rocket Librarian software is easy to use, even for the novice, and allows the user to automatically format personal documents and load them onto the rocketbook. RocketEditions can be annotated using the stylus and a miniature touch keyboard to type in notes, which are attached to a location in the text.
Priced From:  $499 US. to US$349 (Specials seen as low as US$299)

The SoftBook Reader weighs more than the Rocket eBook - about 2.9 pounds - but its large screen could make the extra weight worthwhile to readers of technical documents. At about the size of a thin laptop computer, the SoftBook Reader comes with a protective leather cover and a full-page (6" by 8") display. SoftBook uses a page-turning system similar to turning pages of a real book. Books are downloaded to your SoftBook by plugging the internal modem into any phone line. No computer is required. You can actually write and draw on the pages of a SoftBook title, using the stylus. Your drawings and writing are saved with the page on which they are entered - great for writers who want to send their own manuscripts to the SoftBook to edit. The softbook comes with 1,500 pages of storage, but memory can be expanded to as much as 50,000 pages with the purchase of additional flash memory.
List Priced At: $599, or $299 US if purchased with a 24 month content package.

The Everybook EB dedicated reader is the only ereader so far designed with two facing pages, as in a paper book. Each page is a 13 inch diagonal, high resolution passive LCD color screen. The EB Dedicated Reader has an aluminium case with a soft cover. Books (titles) are stored on removable PCMCIA cards. Each card can hold up to half a million pages! Everybook comes in two models, a Professional/Student model, and a Personal model. Everybook titles are formatted from PDF (Adobe Acrobat) documents, unlike the other eReaders whose titles are formatted from HTML documents.
List Price: Personal Model US$500 - Professional Student Model US$1,600